Refrigerating apparatus



Jan. 21, 1941. E. B. NEWI'LL REFRIGERAT I NG APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet lFiled April 18, 1939 2 Z 6 4 4 4 H 2 a Q n m:

BY J

I M: ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 21,1941. 5; NEWILL 2,229,626

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filedlpril 18. 1939 2 Sheets-Shget 2 j OR.

l/IS ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 21, 1941 PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Edward B.Newill, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton,Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application April 18, 1939, Serial N 0.268,544 5 Claims., (Cl. 62-125) My invention relates to refrigeratingapparatuses and more particularly to refrigerating apparatuses utilizinga plurality of closed refrigerant circuits.

In the production of refrigerating apparatuses and particularlyhousehold refrigerator cabinets, it has been the practice to mount anevaporator, adapted to receive and store frozen food products and toreceive trays of water to be frozen, within the food storage compartmentof the cabinet. The low temperature of outer walls of the evaporator hasbeen employed to cool and cause circulation of air within the mainstorage compartment of the cabinet for refrigerating other products notrequiring as low storage temperature as frozen food products. It isknown that this method of refrigerating the main food storagecompartment of a refrigerator cabinet necessitates operation of theevaporator at such low temperature that its walls cause moisture to be.

condensed out of the circulated air and deposited on the evaporatorwalls. The withdrawal of moisture from the air causes dehydration ofcertain foods stored in the storage compartment. While I have found thatthis low temperature of the evaporator air cooling walls and itsresultant withdrawal of moisture from the air and from certain foods hasnot been objectionable to many users of refrigerating apparatuses, otherusers have strenuously objected to this method of refrigeration becausemost of the foods these other users store in the refrigerator have beenof a moisture laden or bearing variety. Therefore, my invention isparticularly directed to a method of refrigerating a 'householdrefrigerator. cabinet that can be selectively employed in conjunctionwith a conventional refrigerating system to meet the desirability ordemands of individual users to thus render a conventional refrigeratingapparatus universal in utility.

An object of my inventionis to provide an improved refrigeratingapparatus that can be modified at will to produce differentrefrigerating effects within a compartment to be cooled as desired byindividual users.

Another object of my invention is to provide the evaporator of a primaryrefrigerating system or circuit located within .a household refrigeratorcabinet with a member constructed and arranged to form in conjunctionwith the evaporator a secondary volatile refrigerant circuit or systemto thereby permit the evaporator of the primary refrigerating system tobe maintained at a very low temperature for freezing purposes and toutilize a higher temperature of the secondary refrigerant circuit orsystem for cooling other foods in the refrigerator at a temperatureabove freezing.

A further object of my invention is to provide a closed secondaryrefrigerating system or circuit of such construction that it can bereadily attached to or removed from an evaporator of a primaryrefrigerating system within a household refrigerator to modify theeffect produced by the refrigerating apparatus within the food storagecompartment thereof.

A still further object of my invention is to construct a member forminga closed secondary volatile refrigerant circuit for use in conjunctionwith the evaporator of a primary refrigerating system located in a foodstorage compartment in such a manner that it has an upper part adaptedto removably engage the evaporator and form the refrigerant condensingportion of the 20 secondary-circuit and with other parts thereof spacedfrom the evaporator and forming a shield for isolating the evaporatorfrom the air within the compartment as well as a refrigerant evaporatorportion for the secondary refrigerant circuit.

In carrying out the foregoing objects, it is a further and more specificobject of my invention to provide a member adapted to form a closedsecondary refrigerating system or circuit for association with andsupport by an evaporator of a primary refrigerating system, located in afoodstorage compartment of a refrigerator cabinet, and to construct themember so that it can be readily removed from the evaporator withoutdisturbing .the primary refrigerating system and so as not to interferewith the unitary removability of the primary refrigerating system from acabinet.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings wherein a preferred form of the invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings: 45 Fig. l is a vertical sectional view through arefrigerating apparatus of the household type having my inventionembodied therein; and

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through the refrigeratingapparatus shown in Fig. 1 and is taken on the line 2-2 thereof.

Referring to the drawings, for illustrating my invention, I have shownin Fig. 1 thereof a refrigerating apparatus comprising a householdrefrigerator cabinet I 0 including a plurality of 55 metal panels orshells II and an inner metal liner l2. The liner I2 forms a food storagecompartment |4 within cabinet l6, and in order to insulate compartmentI4 I place suitable packaged insulation l5 between the liner and thecabinet outer metal panels or walls I Walls 1 of cabinet ||l extenddownwardly beyond the compartment l4 and provide a machine compartmentl6 provided with mounting portions H. A suitable insulated door I8normally closes an access opening l9 leading to the interior ofcompartment l4. The back upright wall of liner I2 is provided with anopening flanged as at 20 about its edges and which opening is normallycovered by a removable plate 2|. The back wall ll of cabinet I0 is alsoprovided with an opening which is in alignment and registers with theopening in the back wall of liner |2. This opening in the cabinet backwall II is normally closed by a removable plate 22. I place a quantityof loose insulating material 23 between the plates 2| and- 22 to preventleakage of heat through this portion of the cabinet insulated back wall.

A closed circuit or refrigerating system, containing any suitable ordesirable refrigerant, is removably associated with the refrigeratorcabinet Ill and comprises a refrigerant translating device orcirculating unit including motor-compressor 26 and a condenser 21located within the machine compartment l6 and secured, by suitablebrackets or the like, to the mounting portions therein. Therefrigerating system also comprises a refrigerant evaporating element 3|mounted within the upper part of food storage compartment |4 by aplurality of studs or bolts 32 supported by the top wall of compartment4. VA conduit 33 connects the discharge side of compressor 26 with thecondenser 21 and a conduit 34 extends from the condenser 2! to theevaporator 3|. A refrigerant expansion device or restrictor 35 isinterposed in the conduit 34 for controlling the flow of liquidrefrigerant. condensed and liquefied in condenser 21, to the evaporator.Gaseous refrigerant or refrigerant evaporated within the evaporator 3|is withdrawn therefrom by the compressor 26 through a return conduit 3'!connecting the evaporator with the gaseous intake side of the compressor26. In order to control the operation of motorcompressor 26 I place athermostat bulb 4| at any suitable or desirable location within the foodstorage compartment |4. Bulb 4| has a pipe connection 42 with anexpansible and contractible element or bellows (not shown) locatedwithin a control switch 43. The bulb 4|, pipe 42 and the bellows ofswitch 43 form a closed fluid thermostatic system for actuating theelectrical contacts of switch 43 in response to the temper ature withincompartment l4. 'Thus, the operation of motor-compressor 26 iscontrolled in response to the'temperature desired to be maintained inthe food compartment M as is conventiona in such apparatus. It is to benoted that the conduits 34 and 31 and pipe 42 pass .through the closureplates 2| and 22 at the back of cabinet IB and that these conduits andpipe are sealed to the plate 2| by a single large, preferably split,grommet 45, while the conduits 34 and 31 and pipe 42 are sealed to plate22 by individual smaller grommets 46.

The evaporator 3| of the refrigerating system may be of any suitable ordesirable construction but is preferably of the sheet metal typecomprising an inner metal sheet 5| and an outer metal sheet 52 welded orotherwise suitably secured to sheet 5| and provided with a plurality ofcorrugations to form a plurality of refrigerant expansion or evaporatingpassages 53 between the sheets. Outer metal sheet 52 of evaporator 3| isalso provided with horizontally extending corrugations forming a pair ofupper gaseous refrigerant headers 55 and a lower liquid refrigerantdistributing header 56. The headers 55 and 56 are in open communicationwith the refrigerant evaporating passages 53. Upper headers 55 areconnected together and to the gaseous refrigerant return conduit 31 by across pipe 5] (see Fig. 2). The evaporator 3| is formed into a boxlikestructure and surrounds or encloses a sharp freezing chamber orcompartment divided into a plurality of smaller freezing compartments byshelves 58 adapted to receive and support trays of water to be frozen orfor receiving and storing frozen comestibles. The rear of the freezingchamber or compartment formed by the box-like evaporator 3| is closed bya metal wall 59 while a door 6|, pivotally mounted upon the front ofevaporator 3|, closes the front of the freezing compmtment and providesaccess therein.

In order to remove the closed refrigerating system from calbinet' l0,plate 22 is removed from the back wall II of the cabinet and plate 2| isdetached from the back wall of liner l2. The plate 2| is then elevateduntil its hook-like peripheries clear the curved peripheral flange 20 onliner i2. The plate 2| can then be moved away from liner 2, and thesplit grommet 45 separated to permit removal of the conduits 34 and 31and pipe 42 therefrom. Thermostat bulb-4| and its connecting pipe 42 arethen pulled through the loose insulating material 23 and through theopening in plate 22 normally closed by grommet 46. Bulb 4| and pipe 42are then J moved away from plate 22 so as to be out of the path ofmovement of the plate 22 and evaporator 3| from the cabinet. Theevaporator supporting studs 32 are detached from the evaporator and themeans for securing the motor-compressor 26 upon its mounting I! areremoved. The closed refrigerating system can now be unitarily movedhorizontally of the cabinet ID to remove same therefrom. Evaporator 3|,after removal of the insulating material 23, will freely pass throughthe opening in the cabinet back wall which is normally closed by theinsulation 23 and plates 2| and 22.

The refrigerating apparatus thus far described may be said to beconventional, and operation of the refrigerating system will cause theevaporator 3| to produce a refrigerating effect within the food storagecompartment H of cabinet Hi to cool and preserve food products storedtherein and to freeze liquids contained in trays and located on theshelves 58 of the evaporator. This type of apparatus and therefrigerating effect produced thereby is generally satisfactory for mostusers of household refrigerator cabinets. but some users store a largequantity of moisture laden or bearing food products in. the food storagecompartment I4 and desire to refrigerate these food products at atemperature that will permit them to retain their moisture content.Since it is the aim of my invention to render the refrigeratingapparatus disclosed universal in utility, I provide means that can befurnished with the apparatus at low cost to modify the refrigeratingeffect of the apparatus at will in order to meet the uses thereof such,for example, as

food storage compartment. It is to be understood that while I desire tomodify the refrigerating efiect produced in the food storage compartmentM of cabinet to, it is also essential that the temperature withincompartment it be maintained between predetermined'limits irrespectiveof whether or not the refrigerating effect therein is altered ormodified. Therefore, N

in order to accomplish the aim of my invention, I provide adouble-walled metal member or structure ll that can be readily placedinto intimate thermal contact with and easily removed from theevaporator 3|.

The structure or member ll comprises an inner metal sheet 12 and anouter metal sheet l3 welded or otherwise suitably secured together abouttheir peripheries and bent into a substantially c-shaped box-likestructure. The sheets l2 and 13 are spaced apart intermediate theirperipheries to provide a refrigerant chamber l t therebetween. Avolatile liquid refrigerant such as a halogen derivative of an aliphatichydrocarbon, and for instance difluorodichloromethane, is sealed withinchamber 14 which thus renders the member or structure 1! a closedsecondary volatile refrigerant circuit or system associated with theevaporator 3! of the primary refrigerating system. The end portions ofthe inner metal sheet 12 of the C-shaped box-like structure ii arecorrugated as at 76 (see Fig. 1) to provide the member or structure 'H'with inner upper surfaces shaped to correspond to the corrugations andthe fiat portions in the top wall of evaporator tl of the primaryrefrigerating system.

Normally, the refrigerating apparatus disclosed can be operated as aconventional refrigerating system, but if too much drying of thecirculating air or dehydration of foods stored within compartment It ofcabinet ill occurs and becomes objectionable to certain users, theseusers of the apparatus may place the member or structure it on theevaporator it of the primary refrigerating system. The structure it isgenerally somewhat larger than evaporator 3i and upon opening the foodstorage compartment door it, it maybe brought into vertical alignmentwith the evaporator til at the compartment access opening 09, and movedhorizontally thereover so that the inner corrugated surface it of theend portions thereof are in a position to engage the top walls ofevaporator bl. The structure it may then be lowered into position uponthe evaporator ti and supported thereby. The double-walled structure itsubstantially surrounds the evaporator ti and has its top portionsengaging the top walls of evaporator ti and its bottom and side walls orportions spaced from the bottom and side walls of evaporator 3i.corrugations it in member or structure ll fit snugly over and inintimate thermal contact with the corrugations forming the refrigerantpassages 53 in evaporator it. Thus, these portions of structure itcontacting evaporator 3i form a refrigerant condensing portion of thesecbndary refrigerant circuit or system while the walls of structure llspaced from the evaporator it provide refrigerant evaporating portionsfor the secondary refrigerant circuit. A resilient molded rubber gasketor the like member '58, of a general U-shape in order to conform to thespace between the evaporator 3i and the secondary refrigerant structureH, closes the space between the evaporator 3i and structure H at the 7ends thereof. By referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, wherein the crosssectional contour of gasket 18 is shown, it will be noted that gasket orclosure element 18 includes a pair of flanges 79 which fit over andwhich may be secured in any suitable manner to the front and rear edgesof structure it and also includes another flange M which is adapted toremovably engage the walls of evaporator 3i. Gasket 18 seals the spacebetween the walls of evaporator 3i and walls of structure it and thisdead air space acts to insulate refrigerant evaporating portions of .thesecondary refrigerant structure it from portions of the primaryevaporator 31!. The structure it extending around evaporator 3isubstantially isolates evaporator 3! from air within the food storagecompartment id.

The operation of the apparatus with the use of the structure ll locatedover and carried by the evaporator it comprises maintaining theevaporator 3| between predetermined temperature limits, preferably below32? F, in order to freeze or congeal liquid contained in trays orreceptacles placed in the freezing compartment formed by walls of theevaporator 3i. Since the structure it forms a secondary volatilerefrigerating system and since the major part thereof is spaced from theprimary refrigerant evaporae tor 39, the structure it functions at .aconsiderably higher temperature than evaporator iil for producingrefrigeration in the main food storage compartment ltl of cabinet ill.For example, refrigerant may be evaporated within structure it at anysuitable or desirable temperature between 32 and 45 F. Thus, refrigerantevaporating in chamber "it of structure it maintains this structure at asumcient high temperature to prevent the Withdrawal of moisture from theair within compartment it and thereby eliminates dehydration of foodsstored in the storage compartment M. In operation, refrigerant withinthe secondary refrigerating system or structure i l evaporates betweenthe double bottom and side walls thereof and, in so evaporating orvaporizing, removes heat partment it. The evaporated or vaporizedrefrigerant of the secondary refrigerating system or circuit flowsupwardly within structure ii and is cooled and condensed r liquefied inthe upper part thereof, in contact with evaporator 3i, and again flowsback into the bottom and side walls of the structure l l. Therefore,structure M withdraws heat from compartment l t to cool the compartmentand transfers. this heat to the evaporator dl from where it is removedby the primary refrigerating system associated with the refrigeratorcabinet it.

As before stated, the use ofthe secondary volatile refrigerating systemor structure it is optional or selective, and the structure it can bereadily removed from the evaporator it if desired without altering orinterfering with the from the food storage comtiff:

continued operation of the primary refrigerating porarily deformed. I Ifthe gaskets 18 are secured to structure H as hereinbefore stated, theywill be removed from evaporator 3| along with the removal of structure Htherefrom. On the other hand, the gaskets 18 may, if desired, beseparate from structure H and placed in position after the structure Hhas been positioned upon evaporator 3|.

It will be seen from the foregoing that I have provided an improvedrefrigerating apparatus in that I have made provisions for modifying atwill the refrigerating effect thereof produced within the food storagecompartment of the refrigerator cabinet. My invention renders therefrigerating apparatus universal in use at a cost which is negligibleto the manufacturer of the apparatus. I have provided an improveddoublerefrigerant refrigerating system wherein the secondary volatilerefrigerating system or circuit can be readily and quickly removed fromthe primary refrigerating system to meet various food storagerequirements as desired by users of the apparatus. My improvement isnovel in that I have retained several desirable features of conventionalrefrigerating apparatus while at the same time accomplishing the objectssought with the addition of a single low cost element.

' While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosedconstitutes a preferred form,

it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all comingwithin the scope of the claims which follow. What is claimed is asfollows:

1. Refrigerating apparatus comprising in com- V bination, a cabinethaving a plurality of walls forming a food storage compartment therein,an evaporator of a closed primary refrigerating system disposed in saidfood storage compartment, said evaporator being constructed and arrangedto provide a freezing chamber within the food storage compartment, saidclosed primary refrigerating system including a refrigerant translatingportion for circulating refrigerant to and from said evaporator to causesame to produce a refrigerating effect, means removably associatedwithsaid evaporator and forming a secondary volatile refrigerantcircuit, said means including a refrigerant condensing portion in directthermal contact with a portion of said evaporator and a refrigerantevaporating portion spaced from other portions of said evaporator forcooling and causing circulation of air within said food storagecompartment, insulating means closing the space between said evaporatorand said secondary volatile refrigerant circuit forming means forsubstantially isolating said evaporator from the circulating air, andsaid closing means being resilient to permit deformation thereof uponmoving said secondary volatile refrigerant forming means relative tosaid evaporator for removing same therefrom.

2. Refrigerating apparatus comprising in com bination, a cabinet havinga plurality of walls forming a food storage compartment therein, anevaporator of a closed primary refrigerating system disposed in saidfood storage compartment, said evaporator being constructed and arrangedto provide a freezing chamber within the food storage compartment, saidclosed primary refrigerating system including a refrigerant translatingportion for circulating refrigerant to and from said evaporator to causesame to produce a refrigerating effect, means associated with saidevaporator forming a secondary volatile refrigtherefrom, said meansincluding a refrigerant condensing portion in direct thermal contactwith an upper portion of said evaporator and a refrigerant evaporatingportion spaced from all other portions of said evaporator for coolingand causing circuiation of air within said food storage compartment, amolded rubber element-closing the space between said evaporator and saidsecondary volatile refrigerant circuit forming means for substantiallyisolating said evaporator from the circulating air, and said moldedrubber element being flexible to permit deformation thereof upon movingsaid secondary volatile refrigerant circuit forming means horizontallyrelative to said evaporator for removing same therefrom.

3. Refrigerating apparatus comprising in combination, a cabinet having aplurality of horizontal and upright walls forming a food storagecompartment therein, one of said upright cabinet walls having an openingtherein providing access to said food storage compartment, a door fornormally closing said compartment access openwalls formed to provide anelongated box-like freezing chamber within said food storagecompartment, said closed primary refrigerating system including arefrigerant translating portion for circulating refrigerant to and fromsaid evaporator to cause same to produce a refrigerating effect, adouble walled box-like structure surrounding the refrigerant evaporatingwalls of said evaporator to substantially isolate same from air withinsaid compartment and forming a secondary volatile refrigerant circuit,said double walled structure including a refrigerant condensing portionin direct thermal contact with upper walls of said evaporator and arefrigerant evaporating portion spaced from all other walls of saidevaporator for cooling and causing circulation of air within said foodstorage compartment, and said structure being carried by said evaporatorand being movable horizontally relative thereto to remove same therefromthrough said compartment access opening.

4. Refrigerating apparatus comprising in combination, a cabinet having aplurality of walls forming a food storage compartment therein, anevaporator of a closed primary refrigerating system disposed in saidfood compartment, said evaporator being constructed and arranged toprovide a freezing chamber within said food storage compartment,saidclosed primary refrigerating system including a refrigeranttranslat= ing portion for circulating refrigerant to and from saidevaporator to cause same to produce a refrigerating effect, meansextending around said evaporator having a refrigerant condensing portionin direct thermal contact therewith and a refrigerant evaporatingportion spaced therefrom to form a secondary volatile refrigerantcircuit for cooling and causing circulation of air within said foodstorage compartment, said means being removable from said evaporator,means closing the space between said evaporator and said secondaryvolatile refrigerant circuit forming means for substantially isolatingsaid evaporator from the circulating air, and said closing means beingdetachable to permit removal of said secondary volatile refrigerantcircuit forming means from the evaporator.

5. Refrigerating apparatus comprising in combination, a cabinet having aplurality of walls forming a food storage compartment therein, anevaporator of a closed primary refrigerating system disposed in saidfood compartment, said evaporator being constructed and arranged toprovide a freezing chamber within said food storage compartment, saidclosed primary refrigerating system including a refrigerant translatingportion for circulating refrigerant to and from said evaporator to causesame to'produce a refrigerating effect, means extending around saidevaprrator'having a refrigerant condensing portion in direct thermalcontact therewith and a refrigerant evaporating portion spaced therefromto form a secondary volatile refrigerant circuit for cooling and causingcirculation of air within said food storage compartment, said means being removable from said evaporator, means engaging said evaporator and'being secured to said secondary volatile refrigerant circuit formingmeans for closing the space therebetween to substantially isolate saidevaporator from the circulating air, and said closing means being formedof resilient insulating material to permit deformation thereof uponmoving said secondary refrigerant circuit forming means relative to saidevaporator for removing same therefrom.

EDWARD B.

